MA/MSc application

[DrCoconut]

I've seen two courses, both at the same place that I'm interested in. I'm not an admissions person so don't know if applying for both (to increase the likelihood of a place) is OK or makes me look uncommitted. What do you think? One is a MA the other MSc, both in the same department.

I'm afraid that to me it might look uncommitted (former Master's admissions). Much better to contact the relevant course director for each to find out which suits you better having first read through all the online details so you can ask informed questions.

I think it all depends. On the MSc I used to administer, we sometimes had applicants who applied for half a dozen programmes in our school. That did look unfocussed, particularly when the application was pretty much identical for all of them. We assumed that this meant they had also applied for dozens of programmes elsewhere. However, applying to two or three Master's programmes in the same place seems OK to me if one or more of the following apply:

1. At least one of them is heavily oversubscribed so you're not guaranteed an offer and need a back-up plan.

1. Even if you think you stand a good chance of getting an offer, securing the funding is a different matter and that's something else you need to take into account.

1. It's perfectly possible that you are genuinely interested in more than one aspect of your subject. Just make sure you write a different personal statement for each application so that comes across! Also be aware that your referees are unlikely to go to the trouble of writing different references for each application so if they mention one and not the other, it could look as if you have told them that is your preferred option.

I do think, though, that before you apply it would be a good idea to try to speak to someone in the department to find out more about the two programmes and specifically ask if you would be at a disadvantage by applying for both.

Good luck!